Adjustable concave



H. N. IRVINE ADJUSTABLE CONCAVE 'Dec. 4, 1951 2 SHEETS SI'!EET 1 Filed June '7, 1946 Dec. 4, 1951 H. N. IRVINE ADJUSTABLE CONCAVE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 7 Filed June 7, 1946 CFLCCCQSCCCCC Jr Patented Dec. 4, 1 951- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE CONCAVE ,Ho uston N. Irvine, Burlington, Iowa, assignor to 3.1. Case Company, Racine, Wi s., a corporation of Wisconsin Application June '1, 1946, Serial No. 675,162- Claims. (Cl. 130-27) My invention relates to adjustable concaves.

One of the objects of my invention is topro vide in a thresher cylinder and concave 00- operating therewith, improved means for sup porting the concave for adjustment toward and from the axis of the cylinder comprising adjustable means for supporting the front portion of the concave, adjustable means for supporting the rear portion of the concave, and common means for adjusting both said adjustable means simul- .taneously.

A further object, is to provide in such a construction means for adjusting one of said adjustable means independently of the other.

A further object of my invention is to pro vide such a construction in which each of the adjustable means comprises a rock lever having an arm engaging the concave and in whicha link is provided pivotally connectingthe'other.

arms of the levers together.

A further object is to provideimproved, means for mounting the concave bars in the concave frame.

A further object is to provide a concave construction in which .the concave bars may be turned upside down to bring a different wear face into operative relation to the rub bars.

A further object is to provide an improved concave construction in which improved means are.

provided for clamping the in the concave frame.

Further objects and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the description and claims.

In the drawings, in which my invention is illustrated,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a concave and associated parts;

Fig. 2 is a section substantially 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view as seenfrom .the left of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a section substantially onthe line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail. the construction shown comprises a rotatable cylinder I having the rub bars 2 for co-operation with the concave bars 3. The concave bars 3 are mounted in a frame 4 which is provided with meansfor supporting it for adjustment toward and from the axis of the cylinder. This concave frame comprises two lateral cheek pieces I spaced apart substantially the length of the concave bars and secured together by means .of a front concave bars in place on the line spacing and supporting pipe 4", the opposite ends of which are secured to the cheek pieces, respectively, and by a rear spacing and supporting bar 4 extending between the cheek pieces 4 and having its ends secured to the cheek pieces, respectively. Means are provided for adjusting both ends of the concave frame 4 simultaneously or for adjusting one end of the frame independently of the other.

The adjusting means for the rear end of the frame comprises a rock bar 5 rotatably mounted in eye bolts 6 and having rock arms I, one at each end thereof mounted thereon and engaging slots 8 in the cheek pieces 4*, respectively. The adjusting means for the front end of the concave or frame t comprises a rock bar I o rotatably mounted in eye bolts I I secured to the supporting bars II and provided with rock arms l2, the ends of which extend outwardly and engage in slots I3 in the cheek pieces 4 respectively. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the eyebolts 6 and I I may be adjusted up and down with respect to the supporting bars I I by adjusting the lock nuts I l In order to insure radial movement of the concave carrying cheeks with respect to the axis of the cylinder and holding it against circumferential movement, each of the cheeks is provided with a guide pin I4 which extends into a guide slot I5 in a suitable guide block I5 secured to the frame 4.

In order to provide for simultaneous operation of the rock arms 1 and I2 for the front and rear ends of the concave cheeks, the rear rock bar 5 has a rock arm I6 secured thereto which is connected by link I! with a rock arm I8 secured to the front rock bar It. A rock lever I9 is formed integral with the rear rock arm I6. This lever I9 may be adjusted and held in any one of a number of adjusted positions by an operating bar I9 pivoted to the lever and having a plurality of notches for selective engagement with a slotted retaining plate 20.

With this construction, when the operating lever I9 is moved, it will rock the rear shaft 5 and this will rock the front shaft I9 by means of the link I! connecting the two rock arms it and I8. If the control lever I9 is locked counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 2, the rock arm 'i will be moved counterclockwise and the rear ends of the concave cheeks t will be moved away from the cylinder 2. As the rear rockshaft 5 is rocked counterclockwise, the forward rockshaft It will be rocked in a clockwise direction because of the link I! connecting the lower end of the rear rock arm I6 with the upper end of the front rock arm 18. Thus the front ends of the cheek plates 4 also will be moved away from the cylinder.

In order to effect adjustment of the front end of the concave cheek plates 4 independently of the adjustment of the rear ends of the cheek plates t means are provided for changing the effective length of the link I? connecting the two rock arms. For this purpose, the front end of the link is made to extend through a trunnion block 2i having a pivotal connection with the rock arm i8, and a pair of adjusting nuts 22* and 22 are threaded on the link ll, one on each side of the trunnion block 2 l so that by adjusting these nuts the distance between the pivot pin 23 for the front rock arm 58 and the pivot pin 24 for the rear rock arm l8 may be adjusted. This will enable independent adjustmentof the front and rear ends of the concave carrying cheek plates 4*.

The concave itself comprises in addition to the cheek pieces and connecting bars and 4 a plurality of concave bars 3 extending between the cheek pieces 4 and a plurality of spacer channels 26 extending between the concave bars 3 and guiding the straw as it is advanced by the rub bars 2. The ends of the concave bars 3, as well as the ends of the channels 25, extend into generally arcuate grooves 27 in the inner faces of the cheek pieces 58 so that the bars 3 and channels 26 can be inserted at the front ends of the cheek pieces 4 and pushed or slid rearwardly into their final position.

The concave bars 3 are shown as substantially rectangular in cross section. When these concave bars are in position with respect to the cylinder, the hardest wear will be on the upper front edge of the concave bar. The design of the concave bars is such that any one of the four corner edges 25 25', 25 and 25 of the concave bar may be brought into the position of extreme wear. To bring a different edge of the concave bar into the position of extreme wear, it may either be turned end for endwith respect to the cheek pieces or it may be turned upside down.

Each concave bar may be so designed that the upper edge of the concave bar and the lower edge of the concave bar are differently offset with respect to the portion of the bar which extends into the groove 27 in the cheek piece, as shown in Fig. 4. With this construction, turning the bar upside down will change the spacing between the wearing edge of the concave bar 3 and the rub bars 2 on the cylinder and will also change,

the level of the wearing edge with respect to the straw guide bar 26. V

In order to brace the channel members, U-shaped clips 28 may be provided having flange portions 26 which may be spotwelded or otherwise secured to the flanges 29 of the channel members. In order to hold the channel members means for supporting the grate bars against rela-'- tive radial movement. The'usual grate fingers 3| may be secured to the channel 4 extending between and secured to the rear ends of the cheek plates 4*.

.For clamping the concave bars 3 and spacing in position with respect to the concave bars, each channels 26 in place after they have been slipped into the grooves in the cheek pieces 4, a pair of adjusting bolts 32 are provided, one adjacent each cheek piece, each bolt 32 being threaded through a cylindrical pin 33 extending into the cross pipe 4 secured to the cheek pieces 4 and having its point engaging the foremost one of the concave bars 3. By screwing in on these adjusting bolts 32, the entire assembly of concave bars 3 and spacing channels 26 will be forced =rearwardly toward the back stop channel bar 4 and the entire series will be thus firmly clamped in position. For holding the bolts 32 in adjusted position, lock nuts-34 may be provided threaded into the bolts and locking against the cross Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is desired, therefore, that the invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cylinder and concave construction, a plurality of grate bars, a plurality of straw-guiding bars interposed between said grate bars, and a' pair of check pieces for supporting the ends of the grate bars and straw-guiding bars, said straw guiding bars being substantially coextensive longitudinally with respect to said grate bars and wide enough to bridge the space between the grate bars, said grate bars being substantially flat and of greater height than thickness, said straw-guiding bars having downwardly-extending flanges engaging and positioning the flat sides of the grate bars, the portions of said grate bars and straw-guiding bars intermediate the cheek pieces having interfitting means whereby the grate bars and the strawguiding bars are supported against relative radial movement with respect to the cylinder axis com prising pins on the grate bars extending through holes in the flanges, at least a portion of said interfitting means being spaced a substantial distance from said cheek pieces.

2. In a cylinder and concave construction, a plurality of' grate bars, a plurality of straw-guiding bars interposed between said grate bars, and a pair of check pieces for supporting the ends of the grate bars and straw-guiding bars, said straw-guiding bars being substantially coextensive longitudinally with respect to said grate bars and wide enough to bridge the space between grate bars, said grate bars being substantially fiat and of greater height than thickness, said strawguiding barshaving flat side portions for engaging and positioning the fiat sides of the grate bars, each of saidgrate bars having four threshing edges, one at each corner of the bar, each of saidgrate bars having quick, detachable variable position adjusting means including lugs offset with respect to the medial plane ofv the grate bars for mounting it in said cheek pieces so'as to bring any one of its threshing edges into cooperative relation with respect to the cylinder, by turning it upside down or by turning it upside down and end for end.

3. In a thresher cylinder and concave construction a rigid arcuate concave and means for 7 cylinder, and pin and slotmeans for guidingsaid concave in its adjusting movement toward and from the cylinder enabling floating movement of the concave radially toward and from the cylinder and holding it against circumferential movement with respect to the cylinder, each of said adjusting means comprising a rock arm rotatable about a fixed axis having a pin engaging a slot in the concave, said front and rear rock arm slots extending substantially in the same general direction substantially tangentially with respect to the cylinder and said guide slot extending transversely with respect to the slots in the concave and substantially radially with respect to the axis of the cylinder, saidmoving means comprising force transmission means acting between said rock arms.

4. In a thresher cylinder and concave construction a rigid arcuate concave and means for moving and guiding said concave as a unit for adjustment toward and from the axis of the cylinder comprising means for adjusting the front portion of the concave radially toward and from the cylinder, means for adjusting the rear portion of the concave radially toward and from the cylinder, and pin and slot means for guiding said concave in its adjusting movement toward and from the cylinder enabling floating movement of the concave radially toward and from the cylinder and holding it against circumferential movement with respect to the cylinder, each of said adjusting means comprising a rock arm rotatable about a fixed axis having a pin engaging a slot in the concave, said front and rear rock arm slots extending substantially in the same general direction substantially tangentially with respect to the cylinder and said guide slot extending transversely with respect to the slots in the concave and substantially radially with respect to the axis of the cylinder, said moving means comprising common means for actuating the rock arms.

5. In a cylinder and concave construction, a plurality of grate bars, a plurality of straw-guiding bars interposed between said grate bars, and

i a pair of cheek pieces for supporting the ends of the grate bars and straw-guiding bars, said strawguiding bars being substantially coextensive longitudinally with respect to said grate bars and wide enough to bridge the space between grate bars, said grate bars being substantially fiat and of greater height than thickness, said strawguiding bars having fiat side portions for engaging and positioning the flat side of the grate bars, each of said grate bars having two threshing edges at diagonally opposite corners thereof, each of said grate bars having quick detachable variable position adjusting means including a tongue and groove connection offset with respect to a horizontal plane through the medial axis of the grate bar for mounting it in said cheek pieces so as to bring either of said threshing edges into cooperative relation with respect to the cylinder by turning it upside down.

HOUSTON N. IRVINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 239,989 Sherck Apr. 12, 1881 297,781 Garrett et a1. Apr. 29, 1884 464,841 Wittmann Dec. 8, 1891 480,484 Alpert Aug. 9, 1892 509,490 Richter Nov. 28, 1893 811,679 Williams Feb-6, 1906 1,138,835 Bergren May 11, 1915 1,257,802 Butterworth Feb. 26, 1918 1,259,954 Butterworth Mar. 19, 1918 1,286,007 Howell Nov. 26, 1918 1,625,554 Liggett Apr. 19, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 21,751 Great Britain Nov. 30, 1900 36,494 Denmark Aug. 27, 1926 704,149 France Feb. 17, 1931 660,595 Germany May 30, 1938 98,894 Sweden May 14, 1940 64,564 Norway Aug. 3, 1940 104,150 Sweden Mar. 31, 1942 

